Many administrations spawn bombshell books. Most, though, come after a president has left office. Not so for President Trump. Less than two years into his tenure, the 45th commander in chief has already been the subject of a searing, million-plus-copy-selling exposé, Fire and Fury. He’s also overseen one of the most volatile White Houses in memory. According to the latest figures, 23 people have left Trump’s administration. With Sean Spicer’s book due out next week and a surprise title from Omarosa Manigault Newman coming in August, who else among the president’s former men, and women, has a story to tell—and sell? Here, a look at who’s set to publish, and who has a deal or is rumored to be looking for one.
Person | Former Position | Fired or Quit? | Book or Book Deal? | Rumored Book Deal? |
---|---|---|---|---|
James Comey | Director of the FBI | Fired | Comey’s A Higher Loyalty was released in April by Flatiron and the book has sold 581,000 copies to date, according to NPD BookScan. Politico and others reported that the book earned him a multimillion dollar advance | – |
Sean Spicer | Press Secretary | Quit | The Briefing was acquired by Regnery in December 2017 and will be released next week. | – |
Anthony Scaramucci | Communications Director | Fired | The Mooch, who lasted only 10 days in Trump’s administration, inked a deal with Hachette in March. His currently untitled work is set for the fall. | – |
Rex Tillerson | Secretary of State | Fired | No. | No. But having locked horns with Trump on multiple occasions, Tillerson seems like a prime candidate for a deal. And, having come from the private sector, he might not be hung up on the professional concerns that could plague many of his former colleagues. |
Hope Hicks | White House Communications Director | Quit | No. | Yes. The Daily Mail reported that the former model is getting offers from several publishers and could land as much as $10 million for a tell-all. |
H.R. McMaster | National Security Adviser | Quit | Last week Harper announced the acquisition of Battlegrounds, which is slated for a 2020 release. | – |
Roger Stone | Campaign Adviser | – | No. | Yes. Stone, who has never held an official White House role but is a longtime Trump associate, told Vanity Fair in December that he’s working on a book about the possibility of Trump’s removal from office at the hands of his own aides. |
Omarosa Manigault Newman | Director of Communications for White House Office of Public Liaison | Fired | PW learned that the one-time Celebrity Apprentice star has inked a deal with one of the Big Five houses, and her book will be released in August. We are told by a source that she will “drop some bombs” in the book. | – |
Tom Price | Secretary of Health and Human Services | Quit | No. | No. Price resigned following a scandal over violating government travel rules and is unlikely to speak out about the administration. |
Steve Bannon | Chief Strategist | Fired | No. | No. Bannon, whose exit from team Trump was arguably the most surprising, is probably the former Trump advisor publishers would most like a book from. But it remains to be seen whether he will potentially jeopardize his standing with Republican donors to speak his mind about Trump. |
Walter Shaub | Office of Government Ethics Director | Quit | No. | No. But after he resigned, Shaub publicly condemned the president (in a New York Times op-ed). He seems to be a prime candidate for a book deal. |
Reince Priebus | White House Chief of Staff | Quit | No. | No. And one seems unlikely. The former RNC chairman seems unlikely to do something that would damage his reputation with the party. |
Scott Pruitt | Environmental Protection Agency Administrator | Quit | No. | No. Having resigned under a cloud of ethics violation accusations, Pruitt seems to be in no position to speak about the administration. |